North Lakes Tavern — Restaurant in Greater Brisbane

Very disappointed! Booked a table for 15 people at 6pm as we were celebrating my son's 25th birthday with a surprise birthday dinner. It was a surprise alright!! Part of the reason for booking was that I'd seen the nice little garden area with the other restaurants, nice plants, ambient lighting etc. It was obviously my mistake for not specifically requesting this area! I arrived to find that we were seated on the footpath around the corner and right next to the noise of the road. The next table had a few guys that were very intoxicated from the moment we arrived. Ok, we're at a Tavern, this can happen. Let's order dinner. The info provided on the table tells me that we need to scan the QR code to order. The app refuses my credit card, even though it's good. I try two other credit cards with the same result. 10 minutes of my night wasted. I approach the barmaid to make her aware of the issue, and all she had to say was "oh, you can order around there". Order the meals and the wrong meal arrives for my wife. The Assistant Manager Jesse, owns the mistake and fixes it. Happy with that. Meanwhile, I'd ordered the a medium steak and the same for my son. My meal was literally cold and tough and my son's steak was cooked until it was black and as tough as an old boot. Through all of this, the drunk guys are pushing each other around, yelling obscenities at each other and continuing to be served alcohol - by the jug no less! They're constantly threatening to f&#-# smash each other. As such, I didn't even complain about the meals, we were more concerned with safety and getting out of there sooner rather than later. The poor women & children (1, 11 & 15) are hearing all kinds of horrendous language and beginning to feel unsafe. I pull aside the waiter, explain the situation and ask if there is security at hand. He says he'll handle it. Next minute, Jesse the Assistant Manager (one small fella) comes out on his own and tells the guys to leave. They're well and truly punching on by now, kicking each other, bleeding, yelling and swearing and carrying on. Jesse has his hands full, so one of my mates and I go and help diffuse the situation. I manage to get one of the guys to leave and things begin to simmer down. Aaah! Sigh of relief. Nope, the main guy is now standing on the footpath right near our table for about an hour waiting for an Uber. Still carrying on, swearing and generally being highly volatile. Finally gets an Uber and they kick him out 10 metres down the road. We're stuck with this bloke. Time for my son's birthday cake... No thanks, we'd well and truly prefer to just take it home with us now. Our table would have easily spent a few hundred dollars and this was the experience we had. Would have spent a few hundred more if this was all managed properly and we were able to stay. Responsible service of alcohol did not occur. The situation could have easily been a lot worse and we're just lucky that no other patrons were hurt. I did get threatened by one of the numbskulls fighting. Spent good money on the worst steaks I've ever ordered. The whole night was tainted by drunken hostility and subsequently, a lack of management. To Jesse's credit, he did offer me a brief apology for the numbskulls, but the damage was done. My kids were subjected to language and behaviour they simply didn't need to be. Our party couldn't relax and enjoy the night as we would have liked to. My son didn't even get to have his birthday cake with his friends and family. Very...

The food arrived quickly, and the ordering system was super easy, but that’s about where the positives end. I ordered a 300g steak, asking for it medium rare, and it was honestly shocking how bad it was. The steak was dry, insanely chewy, and half of it was overcooked to the point of being borderline burnt. Then, I reached the thicker part of the steak, which was just fat and completely undercooked—barely even touched by heat.

I decided not to be rude and just ate it, but when I went up to the lady with the pinkish-red hair to let her know the steak was undercooked, her response was outrageous. I told her my steak was undercooked, and her immediate response was, "Did you ask for medium rare?" When I said yes, she had the nerve to tell me, “Well, that is medium rare.” I was stunned. I told her, “No, that most definitely isn’t,” and her response? “Well, what do you want me to do about it? You’ve eaten half of it.” I couldn’t believe her attitude. I told her, “I don’t want anything, I just wanted to let you know so it doesn’t happen again,” and she just said, “I’ll let the head chef know." There was zero apology, and she acted like I was the one causing a scene when all I did was point out a simple mistake.

To make matters worse, the other steak we ordered, a 500g one, was also "medium rare," but it was well done, tough, and dry—just as bad. The mashed potatoes were awful, and honestly, the only decent things were the lemon lime bitters and the chips. I can’t believe the lack of care or respect, both in the food and...

Been looking forward to eating at the tavern, being in a seemingly vibey spot of the food court of Westfield North Lakes. Was greeted warmly and told we can order from our table which is great. Decided to sit outside as was a beautiful day but once seated on the cushioned section we noted the dirt on all tables and creasing of the seats: spiderwebs, old leaves and lots of dust/marks. Instantly felt a bit creeped out so we wiped off our table and changed the chairs around. Dismissed it and then ordered our drinks and food. Got the Pinky Gin which was absolutely delicious and the nachos were top notch. However staff never checked in after delivering our food and hard to catch someone’s eye other than going to the counter, which a few people did while we were there. But my most disappointing part is I ordered the Beef burger, which looked amazing and was keen for the grill! Chips were great a few good crispy ones but burger patty was extremely bland and crumbly, egg was slightly charred (now seen a few people had the same experience!) (sauce and bacon were great) Being real hungry I finished. However 20 min later I was quite unwell and instantly regretted eating the food. What should have been a good meal was the real waste and left with a great disappointment. Not sure...